Nigeria may attain highest aviation safety rating by year-end

Stakeholders have said that the country’s aviation industry may attain the highest global safety rating by the end of 2017, going by current developments.

In January, the country rose to Level 3 of the State Safety Programme implementation process, a categorisation of the International Civil Aviation Organisation that tracks the SSP implementation process of member-states via its Integrated Safety Trend Analysis and Reporting System.

The General Manager, Public Relations, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, told our correspondent that the stakeholders were working to get to the fourth and final level at the end of the year.

“It is not by size but by what the country does. Those of us in the Category 3 are also few. Only two member states, Australia and Sri Lanka, have achieved full implementation of the SSP, according to ICAO records. Nigeria is striving to achieve Level 4, which is 100 per cent, by the end of 2017,” he said.

Adurogboye said Nigeria had not recorded any accident or serious incident in the last few years, and that it had consistently complied with international safety standards.

He said, “What has improved our rating is enforcement and compliance, which have been heightened and strengthened. There is also regular training of inspectors, and having skilled manpower in sufficient number, accident rate has really gone down.

“International bodies such as ICAO look at the safety management system and Nigeria is one of the few countries that have set it up in Africa. They also look at the involvement in international training, which has been frequent.”

The Chairman, Airline Operators of Nigeria, Capt. Nogie Meggison, while calling on the Federal Government to come up with a deliberate economic policy to help grow the aviation industry, noted that the country’s record had improved due to safety policy development and enforcement

He added, “Following the air crashes of 2005 and 2006, the Federal Government came up with a deliberate policy to ensure air safety in Nigeria. As fallout of that singular action, Nigeria has had an excellent safety record of about 93 per cent between 2006 and 2017.

“The country also secured the Category 1 status and most of the scheduled airlines are currently IOSA-certified as a strong testimony of the country’s commitment to air safety. Safety and economic policy go hand-in-hand. Where there is no financial profit for airlines, safety would be compromised.”

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